CVE-2015-5174 Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory in Apache Tomcat
Medium 4.3
Published
Updated
Check this codebase for CVE-2015-5174 and fix it if it is affected.
What it is: CVE-2015-5174 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Apache Tomcat, published on 25 Feb 2016. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2015-5174 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Affected packages and fixed versions:
- org.apache.tomcat:tomcat (Maven): affected from 6.0.0; fixed in 6.0.45
- org.apache.tomcat:tomcat (Maven): affected from 6.0.0; fixed in 6.0.45
- org.apache.tomcat:tomcat (Maven): affected from 7.0.0; fixed in 7.0.65
- org.apache.tomcat:tomcat (Maven): affected from 7.0.0; fixed in 7.0.65
- org.apache.tomcat:tomcat (Maven): affected from 8.0.0-RC1; fixed in 8.0.27
- org.apache.tomcat:tomcat (Maven): affected from 8.0.0-RC1; fixed in 8.0.27
Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.
Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-5174/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-5174/index.md)
Authenticated attackers can bypass SecurityManager restrictions to list parent directories via path traversal in Apache Tomcat.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2015-5174?
CVE-2015-5174 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Apache Tomcat, published on 25 Feb 2016. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
Directory traversal vulnerability in RequestUtil.java in Apache Tomcat 6.x before 6.0.45, 7.x before 7.0.65, and 8.x before 8.0.27 allows remote authenticated users to bypass intended SecurityManager restrictions and list a parent directory via a /.. (slash dot dot) in a pathname used by a web application in a getResource, getResourceAsStream, or getResourcePaths call, as demonstrated by the $CATALINA_BASE/webapps directory.
Weakness: CWE-22
Which versions are affected by CVE-2015-5174?
6 open source packages ship an affected version, including org.apache.tomcat:tomcat. It affects 3 products.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
org.apache.tomcat:tomcat Maven | From 6.0.0 | 6.0.45 |
org.apache.tomcat:tomcat Maven | From 6.0.0 | 6.0.45 |
org.apache.tomcat:tomcat Maven | From 7.0.0 | 7.0.65 |
org.apache.tomcat:tomcat Maven | From 7.0.0 | 7.0.65 |
org.apache.tomcat:tomcat Maven | From 8.0.0-RC1 | 8.0.27 |
org.apache.tomcat:tomcat Maven | From 8.0.0-RC1 | 8.0.27 |
Linux distribution packages (33)
tomcat7 Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_web_server:2::el5 | All versions | 0:7.0.54-21_patch_05.ep6.el5 |
tomcat7-admin-webapps Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_web_server:2::el5 | All versions | 0:7.0.54-21_patch_05.ep6.el5 |
tomcat7-docs-webapp Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_web_server:2::el5 | All versions | 0:7.0.54-21_patch_05.ep6.el5 |
tomcat7-el-2.2-api Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_web_server:2::el5 | All versions | 0:7.0.54-21_patch_05.ep6.el5 |
tomcat7-javadoc Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_web_server:2::el5 | All versions | 0:7.0.54-21_patch_05.ep6.el5 |
tomcat7-jsp-2.2-api Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_web_server:2::el5 | All versions | 0:7.0.54-21_patch_05.ep6.el5 |
tomcat7-lib Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_web_server:2::el5 | All versions | 0:7.0.54-21_patch_05.ep6.el5 |
tomcat7-log4j Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_web_server:2::el5 | All versions | 0:7.0.54-21_patch_05.ep6.el5 |
tomcat7-maven-devel Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_web_server:2::el5 | All versions | 0:7.0.54-21_patch_05.ep6.el5 |
tomcat7-servlet-3.0-api Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_web_server:2::el5 | All versions | 0:7.0.54-21_patch_05.ep6.el5 |
tomcat7-webapps Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_web_server:2::el5 | All versions | 0:7.0.54-21_patch_05.ep6.el5 |
tomcat7 Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_web_server:2::el6 | All versions | 0:7.0.54-21_patch_05.ep6.el6 |
tomcat7-admin-webapps Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_web_server:2::el6 | All versions | 0:7.0.54-21_patch_05.ep6.el6 |
tomcat7-docs-webapp Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_web_server:2::el6 | All versions | 0:7.0.54-21_patch_05.ep6.el6 |
tomcat7-el-2.2-api Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_web_server:2::el6 | All versions | 0:7.0.54-21_patch_05.ep6.el6 |
tomcat7-javadoc Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_web_server:2::el6 | All versions | 0:7.0.54-21_patch_05.ep6.el6 |
tomcat7-jsp-2.2-api Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_web_server:2::el6 | All versions | 0:7.0.54-21_patch_05.ep6.el6 |
tomcat7-lib Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_web_server:2::el6 | All versions | 0:7.0.54-21_patch_05.ep6.el6 |
tomcat7-log4j Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_web_server:2::el6 | All versions | 0:7.0.54-21_patch_05.ep6.el6 |
tomcat7-maven-devel Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_web_server:2::el6 | All versions | 0:7.0.54-21_patch_05.ep6.el6 |
tomcat7-servlet-3.0-api Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_web_server:2::el6 | All versions | 0:7.0.54-21_patch_05.ep6.el6 |
tomcat7-webapps Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_web_server:2::el6 | All versions | 0:7.0.54-21_patch_05.ep6.el6 |
tomcat7 Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_web_server:2::el7 | All versions | 0:7.0.54-21_patch_05.ep6.el7 |
tomcat7-admin-webapps Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_web_server:2::el7 | All versions | 0:7.0.54-21_patch_05.ep6.el7 |
tomcat7-docs-webapp Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_web_server:2::el7 | All versions | 0:7.0.54-21_patch_05.ep6.el7 |
tomcat7-el-2.2-api Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_web_server:2::el7 | All versions | 0:7.0.54-21_patch_05.ep6.el7 |
tomcat7-javadoc Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_web_server:2::el7 | All versions | 0:7.0.54-21_patch_05.ep6.el7 |
tomcat7-jsp-2.2-api Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_web_server:2::el7 | All versions | 0:7.0.54-21_patch_05.ep6.el7 |
tomcat7-lib Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_web_server:2::el7 | All versions | 0:7.0.54-21_patch_05.ep6.el7 |
tomcat7-log4j Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_web_server:2::el7 | All versions | 0:7.0.54-21_patch_05.ep6.el7 |
tomcat7-maven-devel Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_web_server:2::el7 | All versions | 0:7.0.54-21_patch_05.ep6.el7 |
tomcat7-servlet-3.0-api Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_web_server:2::el7 | All versions | 0:7.0.54-21_patch_05.ep6.el7 |
tomcat7-webapps Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_web_server:2::el7 | All versions | 0:7.0.54-21_patch_05.ep6.el7 |
Products include Apache Tomcat, Canonical Ubuntu Linux, Debian Debian Linux.
How do I fix CVE-2015-5174?
Upgrade org.apache.tomcat:tomcat to a fixed version for your release line: 6.0.45, 7.0.65 or 8.0.27.
Upgrade, and resolve every user-supplied path against an allowed base folder before opening it. More about Path traversal.
Is CVE-2015-5174 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2015-5174 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Apache Tomcat
Sources
Also known as GHSA-6qr6-x7jm-x2q6, RHBA-2016:0090, UBUNTU-CVE-2015-5174.